Exploring Inner Peace Blog

I will periodically be adding blog posts and tipsheets to help you with your journey. 

Kid toys are playing noisy music in the background and suddenly there is a loud crash as your toddler drops a bucket of things to the ground and screams with frustration. All the while your older child is hounding you for some attention with “mommy, mommy, mommy!” and your spouse is trying to have a conversation with you... Not to mention you are working diligently to get dinner on the table and timers keep beeping at you.

You feel bombarded and overwhelmed, and possibly at your bursting point when you may shout in distress for everyone to BE QUIET! Once things quiet down, it still takes time for your body to calm back to normal. You still feel that overwhelm and turmoil rolling through your body and it’s hard to think straight. You need some peace and quiet, and some alone time until the chaos settles down inside you and you can feel like yourself again.

 

Does this sound familiar to you? If so, then you may be a highly sensitive person (or HSP).

It can be helpful to recognize if you are a highly sensitive person, especially as a parent. So what does it mean and how may it be impacting your parenting and your household? 

When moms are asked what they would do if they miraculously had a free hour, many ideas for self-care and relaxation come up including massage. But did you know that massage isn't just about getting pampered and having a moment to relax? There's so much more to it!

 

And, what if you're uncomfortable with the idea? What if you've had some hard experiences that make it difficult for you to be touched or vulnerable? Could massage still be a helping and healing therapy for you? 

 

Massage can be healing in many ways and can aid your efforts in dealing with stress or your mental health. It goes well side by side with counseling too!

 

Let's get some insight with an experienced massage therapist. Here I've interviewed Caitlin Granier, LMT of the Kali Institute in Colorado. 

 

Mom Body? No Shame! Reclaim Your Body After Babies

 

Yes, there may always be some battle wounds left behind on your body to show your motherhood journey. Some things we can’t physically change without plastic surgery. However, some things we do have control over. And for some of our changes we just need to accept and embrace that we are different now that we are mothers. Yes, easier said than done! But I’m going to help you feel empowered and confident in your own skin. 

Coach Your Way to Acceptance

After having 3 children (including twins!), I have had to come to terms with my body never being as it once was. My body is forever changed, just as I am. I have gone through a beautiful transformation from the young, fit woman I was into a strong, nurturing mother in every ounce of my being. It is a part of my identity now.

 

And my body has the battle wounds to show this transformation! I have stretch marks of the many months of love and growing that my body took on to care for my developing babies. I have loose skin and surgery marks that are all just a small part of what I have been through in my motherhood journey. I have spent countless hours nourishing my babies that my chest will never look the same.

 

But I also have more strength physically and emotionally than I ever had before. My arms have lifted my children repeatedly and 2 at a time plus all the diaper bags and backpacks.

It's Twins! (Gulp, Faint, Whaa?) Here's What You Need to Know

Check out my latest article written as a guest on a fellow social worker's site for moms. In the article I discuss what is different postpartum with having twins versus a single baby, including postpartum mood disorders, baby blues, and all the additional stress that comes with having two babies at once. It can be challenging for both parents and for the couple's relationship, but armed with more knowledge and insight, you can get through it and enjoy your precious twins. 

https://www.cnytherapysolutions.com/blog

 

Don't Burst at the Seams, Make Time for Yourself- How Online Therapy Can Help

There's never any time for a mom (heck we can't even have privacy in the bathroom!). So how can you possibly fit in self care? 

I've been a stay at home mom with my infant twins and I've been a working mom. In both situations there was never an easy time for me to take care of me. 

It was so hard to figure out a piece of time that I was not on mom-duty or busy rushing around to get things done (work, errands or house work). There were definitely times when I felt I was going to lose my mind because I couldn't fit in a break or some 'me time' and everything kept piling up.... It was so overwhelming! 

 

So what can you do to keep your sanity when you have little kids that need you to keep up and things still have to get done?